Gold holds up over demand for commodities

Gold little changed in Asian trading as investors buy commodities on expectations economic growth will spur demand for raw materials.

Gold for immediate delivery traded at $1,118.70 an ounce in Singapore. It rose as much as 0.2 per cent earlier, set for the longest winning streak since the three days ended January 4. Gold rose in early trading to a one-week high on bargain hunting driven by a firmer euro, while sterling-priced bullion struck another record as the British currency tumbled against the US dollar.

"Gold's being supported by the strength we're seeing in the other commodities like oil and metals," said Lin Jihan, an analyst at Ningbo Shanli Futures. "The dollar's been driving the direction of gold in the past few weeks and this will continue for a while."

"There's a bit of bargain hunting in gold but it seems to be subsiding now. It's still a ranged market, so I don't expect too much," said a dealer in Hong Kong, adding that gold also faced resistance at the one-month high around $1,130 hit last week.

Silver, also used in photography and electronics, jumped to its strongest in almost a month to track gold and the price of copper, which surged on worries about supply after a quake hit top producer Chile.

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